The Perestroyka, declared by
the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev,
laid grounds for liberalization of the political regime in the USSR
and was perceived as an opportunity to correct for mistakes made in
the past. The people of Nagorno Karabakh had new hope for a democratic
solution to the problem and implementation of international law regarding
interethnic relations.

The current stage of the national-liberation struggle
of the people of Karabakh began in the end of 1987, when tens of thousands
of people took to the streets of Nagorno Karabakh and signed a petition
demanding reunification of NKAO with Armenia. Representatives were sent
to the central USSR party and government bodies to plea their case.

On February 20, 1988 the session of the Nagorno Karabakh
Oblast Soviet (Regional Council) of People's Deputies appealed to the
Supreme Soviets of Azerbaijan SSR and Armenian SSR for the transfer
of NKAO from Azerbaijan to Armenia. This appeal was preceded by six
similar requests from regional Soviets. However, the CPSU Central Committee
adopted a resolution on February 21, contradicting the international
principle of people's self-determination - the central authorities substituted
a political resolution to the problem with social and economic measures.
This was greeted with categorical protests from the people of Nagorno
Karabakh.

Taking advantage of the undecided political body of
the USSR, Communist authorities of Azerbaijan USSR falsified the history
of the region and created nationalistic hysteria in the mass media,
thus transforming the problem into an ethnic conflict. The high-ranking
Azerbaijani official, Asadov, threatened an invasion of "100,000
armed Azeris" in Nagorno Karabakh.

In an attempt to block a scheduled session of the
NKAO ObCom (Oblast Committee) the First Secretary of Azerbaijani Central
Committee of CP Bagirov, members of the Bureau of Azerbaijani CP, the
Instructor of the Propaganda Department of CC of CPSU, tried to pass
a resolution placing all responsibility for the situation on the Party
organization of the oblast. The Bureau did not accept the resolution.
Despite the efforts of the representatives from Baku and the First Secretary
of ObCom, the session of the Council of Oblast's People's Deputies was
held and a resolution demanding reunification of NKAO with Armenia was
adopted. The Azerbaijani side responded with aggression. On February
22, a crowd numbering thousands of people, started to move towards Stepanakert
from the neighboring Azerbaijani region of Agdam "to restore order."
Bloodshed was very narrowly avoided.

Mass pogroms and murders of Armenians on February
27-29, 1988 in Sumgait [Azerbaijani town, situated hundreds of miles
away from Nagorno Karabakh] continued the official policy of Azerbaijan
to impede the possibility of a fair solution to the Karabakh problem.
The act of genocide against Armenians in Sumgait, which was not properly
assessed by Azerbaijan or the international community, was scrupulously
organized. Leaders of factories and organizations ordered their workers
to attend anti-Armenian rallies where speakers were representatives
of municipal authorities. The "rally" of February 27 ended
with the Soumgait city Communist Party Committee First Secretary Muslimzade
raising the Azeri national flag and leading the crowd in a frenzied
state. During the subsequent three days of massacres and pogroms, dozens
of Armenians were murdered, many with extreme cruelty. Hundreds were
injured, and a great number of Armenians were raped, tortured and persecuted.
18,000 people became refugees.

However, Azerbaijan's policy of using threats and
violence did not force the people of Artsakh abandon their goal. The
Armenian dedication to the cause was culminated when Henrikh Poghossian,
the Plenum of Communist Party's ObCom head demanded that Nagorno Karabakh
secede from Azerbaijan.

1989

Taking into consideration the precarious situation
the central authorities of the USSR introduced a special form of administration
in the NKAO on January 12, 1989. A Special Governing Committee for NKAO
was created, which was headed by Chairman of the CPSU Central Committee
Department, Arkady Volsky. However, the Committee, which was initially
created to prevent further deterioration of the situation, was inadequate
for its mission. The Azeri SSR authorities took advantage of this and
tried to force its conditions upon Nagorno Karabakh by circumventing
the Committee.

The suspension of the powers of NKAO's Party and state
bodies and grossly violated the rights of NKAO and its people. In order
to elect a representative authority of the people, a congress of NKAO
population representatives was called. The congress, convened on August
16, and addressed the people of Azerbaijan with concern about the deepening
alienation, and ethnic enmity between the Armenian and Azeri people.
The address also appealed to mutual recognition of fundamental rights
of each other. The congress proposed active cooperation with the Commandant
of the Special region, officers and soldiers of the Soviet Army and
armed detachments of USSR Interior Ministry in order to guarantee peace
in the region. The congress elected National Council (chaired by the
USSR People's Deputy V.Grigorian), with the goal of implementing the
decisions of the OblSoviet People's Deputies session of February 20,
1988.

Officials in Baku chose not to heed the words of the
congress and began an economic blockade of NKAO and Armenia, unprecedented
in the USSR. NKAO was particularly isolated from the outside world as
all goods had to pass through Azerbaijan to reach the territory. Food,
fuel, and construction materials stopped entering NKAO, and as a result
the majority of industrial enterprises, transport, and agricultural
machinery were unable to function, and the harvest could not be exported.
The population was on the verge of famine.

Simultaneously, punitive actions intensified in the
Shahoumian district, where the Armenian population continued to face
a serious threat of physical extermination. In order to prevent this,
a special session of Oblast's Peoples Deputies Soviet adopted a decision
to include the Shahoumian region in the NKAO.

Lacking necessary means to defend the oblast, the
authorities of Nagorno Karabakh appealed to help from the USSR's highest
authorities on numerous occasions. However, the Central authorities
did not take any action to prevent bloodshed. The appeal of the National
Council Presidium of Nagorno Karabakh to the UN Security Council to
assist in the assurance of security for the Armenians in the region
remained unanswered. Furthermore, the USSR Supreme Soviet adopted a
resolution on November 28, which all but ensured that Nagorno Karabakh
forcefully remain in the Azerbaijani SSR. The USSR Supreme Soviet disbanded
the Special Governing Committee and established an Organizational Committee
of Azerbaijan SSR on NKAO, without directly outlining its goals or level
of authority. It became known later that the Organization Committee
carried out deportation operations aimed against the Armenian population
of Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding regions with assistance from the
USSR Interior Ministry, and the Soviet Army.

On December 1, 1989, the joint session of the Supreme
Soviets of the Armenian SSR and the National Council of NKAO adopted
a resolution on reunification of Nagorno Karabakh and Armenian SSR,
"based on the universal principle of self-determination of nations
and responding to the just strive of the reunification of two forcefully
separated parts of the Armenian peoples." The reaction of the Azerbaijani
authorities was felt as new waves of violence and use of forces were
employed.

1990

The pogroms of January 1991 in Baku, the capital of
Azerbaijani SSR, were a continuation of a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
As a result, hundreds of Armenians were killed and a new wave of refugees
emerged. The cruelty of Sumgait pogroms was matched in Baku - people
were burned alive, stabbed, and beaten to death. Instances of cannibalism
were reported. Realizing that the central authorities were not taking
action to stop the killings of the Armenian people, the Popular Front
of Azerbaijan, which was formed in 1989 as an opposition party, organized
an armed assault on the Armenian villages of Shahoumian and Khanlar
regions. Military actions began along the border of Armenia and Azerbaijani
territories.
Considering the situation, the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet,
introduced an emergency state in NKAO, the bordering regions of Azerbaijani
SSR, Goris region of the Armenian SSR, and along the USSR state border
of Azerbaijani SSR territory. The Military Commandant's Headquarters
took upon governance at all levels, relinquishing the authority of local
representative government bodies and introducing martial law on the
territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Supported by the Military Commandant's
Headquarters, the activity of Azerbaijani authorities intensified, along
with their policy of suppression, ethnic cleansing and terror. Active
members of the Karabakh movement were persecuted at increasing rates
and arrested under the false pretense of real "criminal cases".